Current voicemail routing systems typically use a range-based mechanism where voicemail (VM) calls are routed to one of several voicemail server centers (VMSCs) in an equal load-sharing scheme. For example, in an exemplary network including multiple conventional VMSCs, each VMSC may be assigned a range of subscribers. Subscribers may be identified by a subscriber identifier, such as mobile station ISDN number (MSISDN) or directory number (DN). Therefore, when a VM call arrives at a particular mobile switching center (MSC), the MSC may simply route the voicemail call to a VMSC based on the subscriber identifier. By equally dividing subscriber identifiers among multiple VMSCs, current methods load-share voicemail services for all network subscribers across all available VMSCs.
Current voicemail routing systems also typically provision each VMSC with the same set of voicemail services, regardless of whether the distribution of users requiring those services is uniform. Yet with the introduction of premium voicemail services, such as video-voicemail and multimedia-voicemail, network operators employing conventional voicemail routing systems must either upgrade all of their existing VMSCs or forgo these advanced services. For example, in an exemplary network containing multiple VMSCs providing standard voicemail services, all VMSCs in the network must be upgraded in order to provide premium voicemail services to a minority of subscribers.
Therefore, one problem associated with current voicemail routing systems is the inability assign subscribers to VMSCs on an individual basis. Moreover, because the desire for premium voicemail services is unevenly distributed throughout the customer base, yet VMSCs must be identically provisioned, network operators must either over-provision or under-provision voicemail server resources, thereby incurring added inefficiency and expense.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved methods, systems, and computer program products for providing voicemail routing information in a network that provides customized voicemail services.